psychoshenanigans | GRATIA // PSL

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GRATIA // PSL

The first thing he feels is the cold.

It permeates everything down here on the lower levels. What little warmth humans have made for themselves is greedily gobbled up by the stone walls that surround them on all sides. Despite the stirring of people in the streets, in their homes, and around corners, this place feels like a grave. A similar sense seems to loom over the heads of most who make their way through this deep, dark part of the world, hovering around them like a cloud of inevitability. No one has been outright sentenced to death, but they may as well be.

Upon waking, Tek will have found himself in a dark, wet alleyway. Attempts to orient himself reveal that he has been brought, somehow, to an impressively large network of tunnels that all lead, more or less, to three or four larger chambers. There is far more vibrant life above him somewhere, far, far above the layer of caves he's in now, and there is also a very deep, sluggish form of life somewhere far below his feet.

No one is coming to get him. No one follows him in his immediate vicinity--the few stragglers hanging around doorsteps and windows don't give him a second glance, or even a first one. The place is crowded, but not busy. Everyone keeps their heads down. The people are all dressed poorly, in rags and robes and bundles that suggest a certain level of consistent poverty all throughout the level. The buildings in these tunnels look man-made, either built from scrap or carved straight out of the rock of the cave, but the majority of the actual roads and cave walls seem to have been formed with very little help from human hands.

The place is lit with lanterns and dirty-looking florescents suspended high above in the cave ceiling. The air is thick and stuffy, the smell of mold and mud prevalent over even the smell of human stagnation. It would not be hard to drag someone off, and he gets the immediate feeling that if he did, it's unlikely that anyone would come looking for them.

What does he do?

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[Tonic can't stay truly irritable, not with the world swirling around him in a perfect universal irony; Tek's laughing is contagious and eventually gets him to crack, giggling at the man drooped over his table.]

Ugh, please... [he crosses one leg over the other with an over-pronounced huff, clearly for show as he's pointedly balancing his one leg over the edge of his mostly-missing limb.] I've never had a forked tongue.

[Tek still has it within himself to raise his head and fix an incredulous look on his partner. the laughing still hasn't really gone away, though.]

That counts? [ridiculous.] Then, I've never had a fancy prosthetic limb.

[something about the absolutely stupid direction this has taken punches him in the gut with a laugh, and now he's the one starting to double-over and hold onto his side to keep from hurting himself.]

Whatever, babe. [he reaches forward, shoving his hand into the tin just to toss three or four of them at Tek, sending them skittering over the table while he cackles.] And I've never been to the Capitol!

Edited 2019-01-29 04:34 (UTC)

[even though he is entranced by the way that the buttons go clattering out of the tin, and he can't help but fidget with them a little longer than he means to when he picks them up, he hardly misses a beat. it could hardly be called a suspicious pause with the way he shakes his head in disappointment.

he puts all the spilled buttons back into the tin, except for the one that he's keeping for himself. as if he's wrapping up the game entirely and not just signaling that his partner has failed to win a point.]

When I'd said that this game was meant to be played while laughing, this is not quite what I had meant. [he says, while still chuckling.] This has gotten silly.

[he tracks down where those buttons go, following with his eyes... but whether or not he is tabulating and conscious of the inequality is a little hard to discern, given the way that he seems to be melting into the table, clutching at the beautiful side of his face as if this whole ordeal has only given him a headache.]

You started it... [he fixes Tek with his strange, multicolored eye while the other one squints shut.] I think we were doing just fine up until you started taking cheap shots.

[he makes a small, useless, giggly sound... and then his voice is muffled as he smashes his hand into his own mouth.]

My face feels weird...

Oh, no... [he points a finger at Tonic with a flip of his wrist.] That trend was most definitely started by you.

[Tek is also melting, but the buzz of endorphins and energy is keeping him from sitting still. watching Tonic grab his own face is extremely entertaining--and Tek must still think himself as a very funny creature, because he preemptively laughs at his own joke before reaching his hand out for Tonic's face.]

Does it? Let me see...

[he does not think he's the one who started it, and was most likely about to say something very clever to counter it... but then there's a hand reaching out towards his face, and Tonic has surprisingly few qualms about shifting so that the side of him with more nerves will be within easy reach.]

Was that you laughing at your own joke? [he quickly asks, looking incredulous, before his face is inevitably felt-over.]

[part of him hadn't been expecting Tonic to actually let him touch his face, but he's still nice about it when he finds himself with permission. it's not like he isn't glad for the excuse to do so. he runs his hand over the pretty side of Tonic's face as if he's feeling up a soft, expensive bit of fabric. the sensation is similar right now anyway.]

Hey... it's rude to point that out. And it makes you a hypocrite.

[because this bitch has been giggling at his own jokes since Tek first met him.]

[the moment there are fingers against his skin, he finds himself leaning eagerly into the touch... because grabbing at his own face still involves a single brain, orchestrating his movements and piecing everything together.

but his brain doesn't know what to do with this foreign input, data half-scrambled with another language, so it sits back and lets the other man fill his skin with traces of soft buzzing and quiet fireworks.

it's almost cute, until he gets called out. that makes him laugh again, cackling through a lopsided grin.]

So it does.

[he might have been there for a while, but Tonic's laugh jostles him out of it, and he sits back. the thoughts that had almost immediately begun to drift--marveling over how magnetizing his friend is, so entertained and a little jealous over how much he seems to be enjoying the touch--suddenly center and focus.

back in his own space again, he's abruptly aware of the various ways in which he does not feel how Tonic looks. his own shirt is the first thing that is beginning to bother him, so he's starting with the sleeves, frowning at them and unfastening the buttons on the cuff with buzzing fingers.]

[and then Tonic is back in his own space again, which he immediately decides he doesn't like. still melting in the direction of the table, he gives an incredulous little laugh when Tek starts, what, unbuttoning his sleeves? he'd assume it's to take his shirt off, but the man has such a suddenly-serious look about him...]

What are you doing...?

[while asking this, he also decides that he is tired of holding up his own body weight, and that he'd much rather his guest hold him up instead. so he slinks forward, shamelessly crawling up into Tek's lap to join in on whatever has his friend so preoccupied.]

What's the unbuttoning for, babe? [he smirks, playfully picking at the fabric on whatever cuff Tek isn't currently occupied with, starting to fold it upwards over his wrist. he's very into how comfortable the other is, and how he bets they'd feel electric if they were closer together, but he's so tickled by the idea of these cuffs that they simply must be dealt with first. maybe Tek's just trying to get his shirt off and Tonic is just making it harder--who knows?]

[being climbed on is a little jarring in his current state, but he decides that it's not so bad after the initial jolt. he's aware of every bit of it--weight and warmth and those earrings are still amazing and now much closer to his face than they were before.

it's distracting. he gives up on his own sleeve pretty quickly, holding his arm out at a better angle for his friend to deal with.]

I just want them off my arms. It's annoying.

[Tonic's getting giggly again... but it's probably not much of a surprise. crawling into a grown man's lap to roll up his sleeves seems like the kind of thing he'd be just tickled to do. maybe this even counts as foreplay.

but he does a very good job of taking over, folding Tek's sleeves up over themselves, and then folding them up again. he seems to take a great joy in making them neat and straight. it helps that the fabric is fascinating to him right now, smooth and cool and wonderful to look at.]

[that's great. he's glad that the other man seems to be enjoying himself, and his sleeves are being folded back in such a precise and aesthetically pleasing way. he is genuinely happy at this turn of events.

...but the fabric on his other arm is still annoying and scratchy and it's driving him crazy. so, his patience breaks in the middle of Tonic busying pleasantly with one sleeve, to reach over and shove the other one artlessly up past his elbow.]

Hey, hey...

[he looks over with a soft laugh, his earrings cascading over his shoulders as he does.]

That's not how you fold a sleeve, dear.

[he reaches for that one next, hoping he can save it from his wrinkly fate.]

[Tek sighs with utmost drama and lets his head falls back against the pile of cushions he'd stacked up behind him. fine, have his arm. it was annoying him anyway.

and from this angle, he can still see Tonic's beautiful earring just fine, so... there is a pause of barely two seconds before he's moving again. the arm with the neatly-rolled sleeve lifts so that he can reach and gentle play with the little bit of soft gold dangling there.

it's just like when this whole thing had first started, except it's somehow even more mesmerizing now.]

[and for a moment, the two of them are completely involved in their own little fixations. the clothier gets to smooth out and carefully fold the fabric up and away from his guest's arm, while said guest gets to play with the feeling of a soft earring running through his fingers like water.

when Tonic finishes, he leans back with a smile, slipping just out of the other's reach... he might have meant to be coy about it, or say something about how he couldn't just let a sleeve stay wrinkled like that, but he doesn't get any further than gazing at him, getting lost in all of the angles and soft edges and deathly-pale tones of the other's beautiful face.]

['getting lost' really is the phrase for it. he feels both incredibly present in the moment, caught up in every vivid detail, as well as detached from the reality of it. it's a fascinating combination of states, and he's deciding that he likes the effect (now that he's no longer oversensitive to fabric clinging to his arms). a good few seconds float by while he lingers over how the candlelight smooths over one half of his partner's face and skips across the varied surface of the other.

he's also got one part of his brain busy replaying the image of Tonic daintily fixing up the cuffs of his shirt, even if he's belatedly appreciating it. it takes a few moments for one thought to lead to another, but it seems obvious once he arrives there.

he reaches up to idly pick at the top button of his shirt.]

Can you help me with these as well?

[and for all of that distracted staring, Tonic's attention immediately darts down to Tek's fingers, following way they move against the top button of his shirt. the other's words feel warm and inviting and deeply personal like this, nestled in this little moment the two of them have built. he doesn't hide the tiny flick of his tongue over his lip before he answers.]

Of course.

[it takes a surprising amount of self-control not to just duck in and start ravishing the other right where they're lounging, but it helps that buttons are a favorite of his. he begins working intently at the top, his misshapen fingers supporting his more dexterous set as he slides each button out of place. this could be quick work for him, and Tek knows this, but he indulges in a slower pace just to savor the chance to reveal a little more skin with every move.]

[with how Tonic had been the one to beckon him closer both times they were together previously, it feels good to give an invitation of his own. there's something very nice about sitting back like this, quietly watching his partner busy with something that he knows they're finding pleasure in. he can be content to simply take in the view, and marvel at the subtle feeling of new, cool air slowly touching more of his skin as his chest is bared. he only moves once, and that is to idly reach up and nudge his necklace to the side by an inch so that Tonic won't accidentally run into it. and then it's right back to lounging and drinking in every moment of pretty fingers working their way down his shirt until the last button is finally undone.]

Much better.

[his smile is appreciative... but just to make sure that Tonic knows how pleased he is in this moment, he reaches for Tonic's good hand so he indulge in drawing it up and placing a kiss on those fingers he's enjoying so much.]

[he was very taken with this when it happened earlier, feeling someone kiss his fingers as though he was some fair maiden and not a scarred-up, cold-hearted, paranoid wreck of a human being. in the silence between them he should have had an instant, very clever thing to say in response, but he finds it suddenly very difficult to think of much else other than Tek's fingers touching his, and all the warm skin underneath him.

however, no matter how smitten he may be, Tonic is still Tonic. his instincts know to tread carefully. their mutual vulnerability only heightens this feeling. if something goes bad for Tek, even on accident, he knows it'll wind up bad for him too. so he airs on the side of caution, picking his words intentionally.]

What else would you like?

[said with a hint of amusement in what it otherwise complete fondness; it's hardly a sacrifice to give someone else the choice, especially with how he uses the words as an excuse to lift his free hand and brush his fingers in a long trail down the side of the other's neck.]

[much like his partner, Tek had also been on the verge of forming a clever comment, but words just don't link together in his head as quickly as they should. other things seem more vivid and important anyway. what good are words when a touch feels like light and fire?

he doesn't want to leave Tonic hanging without a response, however. he still recognizes the various stakes and implications of the situation, and appreciates his partner's courtesy. so, still keeping Tonic's hand held captive near his face, he at least answers by smiling wide over his fingers and placing another slow kiss against his skin, now lower, on the side of his wrist.

it's all very coy and mischievous and welcoming... until Tonic runs his hand over Tek's neck and the dragon immediately loses focus. one little touch and his eyes immediately close, and Tonic has a very pleased sound rumbling against his wrist.

it's pretty safe to say that the final answer to his question is: that.]

[oh, he likes whatever game this is turning into. he already feels like shivering against the feelings that the other is pressing against his wrist--but now he's gone and found something that his guest really seems to like, and he laughs with half a face and smiles just as crookedly after.]

Yeah? This is good?

[the nails on his weird, scarred hand are not as magnificent as the ones on his normal hand, but they do a good enough job as he pointedly runs them down Tek's neck again. you know, for science.]

[really, it's probably a good thing that he's got the more mundane set of nails dragging over his overstimulated nerves. the sharp, beautiful ones might have been too much.

as it is, he reflexively runs his own fingers affectionately over the hand that he still has captured... but he's also beginning to use it to lean his face against as he tilts his head, stretching out more of his neck to the side to be doted on.

there's another happy groan. yes, this is good.]

[part of him almost feels bad. does this count as taking advantage, while the other isn't entirely in his normal state of mind, especially with all those sharp little games they like to play? but whatever the case, it isn't enough to stop him. he finds himself cradling Tek's face with his good hand and continuing to drag his nails along his neck with the other.

maybe it's not taking advantage. maybe it's just thanks for last time. he laughs again at his own thought, but says nothing, perfectly content to let this scene play on.]

GRATIA // PSL

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